Leveling machine



Feb. 3, 1970 'F. PERNER' LEVELING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 31. 1967 INVENTOR. FRIEDRICH PERNER fl Q '%t;

HIS ATTORNEY Feb.- 3, 1970 Filed May 31, 1967 F. PERNER LEVELING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 2

4 21 38 I9 42 4 T E i 43 if 44 INVENTOR. FRIEDRICH PERNER HIS ATTORNEY F. PERNER LEVELING MACHINE F ch. 3, 1970 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 31. 1967 INVENTOR. FRIEDRICH PERNER Nu on mm HIS ATTORNEY Feb. 3, 1976 F. PERNER LEVELING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 31, 1967 m on B mm INVENTOR. FRIEDRICH PERNER HIS ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,492,852 LEVELENG MACHINE Friedrich Perrier, Dahlbrnch, Germany, assignor to Siegener Maschinenban G.m.b.H., a corporation of Germany Filed May 31, 1967, Ser. No. 642,600 Claims priority, application Germany, June 4, 1966, S 104,144; Sept. 2, 1966, S 105,660 lint. Cl. B2111 1/02 US. Cl. 72-164 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to an improved leveling or straightening machine of the type employed to level and straighten rolled material, such as, strip or beams, and, more particularly, provides an improved support structure for the rollers of the machine and an improved means for adjusting the rollers.

There are leveling machines known in which the supporting shafts of the rollers thereof can be shifted in guides arranged parallel to the leveling plane. The support of the shafts as well as the taking up of the support forces acting on the rolls on those members are received by a frame formed by side housings and an upper and lower crossbeam which enclose the leveling rollers as an outer frame. With an increasing number of leveling rollers the construction is made more diflicult, since an increase in the number of leveling rollers employed not only increases the forces; but, also, the span of the crossbeams assuming these forces increases. In an attempt to meet the problem it was suggested to provide in the middle region of the cross'beam a tie rod connecting the upper crossbeam with the lower one which, to a very limited extent, improves the construction. In other construction, to maintain the span of the crossbeams as short as possible the first and last leveling rollers have been used as feeding rollers arranged laterally on the cross housings of the outer frame. The position of these feeding rollers thus is predetermined in many instances and by reason thereof they cannot be made fully effective.

When such feed rollers, either arranged in front or back of the machine, are made adjustable, this can be done usually without lengthening the crossbeams, but in this case the rollers require a special support to receive them which have to be provided at the side housings.

The present invention has for its object to provide a leveling machine wherein, even when employing a maximum number of rollers, the frame is considerably lighter than previous machines, and wherein any required number of rollers can be employed without detracting from the effectiveness. The additional expense for using a greater number of rollers will rise only linearly with the number of rollers, respectively. In the new leveling machine herein disclosed there is realized the great advantage of simplicity of parts and the adding or subtracting of rollers.

In one form of the present invention the shafts of each leveling roller are rotatably received in separate frames which are arranged in group fashion, the lower group being arranged to support the upper group. The group of separate frames for the lower leveling shafts although slidably supported are held in a form-closed manner on a machine bed parallel to the path of direction of the material to be leveled, while the frames of the other group supporting the upper leveling shafts are connected with the frames of the first group in a form-closed manner and are also adjustably carried by slides. In a manner in itself well known, the leveling shafts of at least one of the groups are constructed to be shifted vertically within their frames. In this construction the forces sustained by the leveling rollers are transmitted directly to the individual frames of the adjoining leveling rollers facing each other via the individual frames, so that the machine bed is relieved of the leveling forces to a great extent and essentially serves only to support the weight of the frames.

It has proved successful to design the form-closed connection between the frames as well as between the frames and the machine bed in a definite manner in order to fix the selected roller distances and roller divisions, respec tively. Adjustment of the frames can be done in an especially simple manner and there is no need to support the drive separately since the mechanisms are assigned only to one of the groups of the frames which act upon several or all frames of a group.

According to one form of the invention the frames of one of the groups are in each case provided with racks and those of the other with pinions meshing with the racks of the two adjoining frames of the first group. The two pinions associated with a frame are connected in such a manner via a linkage that they are in a position to perform only rotations in a different sense and forcibly, so that in the event two frames equipped with racks move apart, the frames having the pinions and bridging the two other frames, stay in each case in the middle position. Longitudinal spindles which attach through threaded pieces coordinated with the frames are employed as common adjusting devices of the frames of the driven group and include a section equipped with thread coordinated to the adjustment range of each frame. The pitch of these threads is selected differently corresponding to the desired relative adjustment of each frame.

If equal adjustment of the frames is desired, the threaded portions have pitches which are proportional to the mean distance of each case in the coordinated frame from the center of the machine. An even number of intermediate gears can be employed as a means of connecting the gears. It has been advantageous to connect the gears of a frame with such a ratio that their motions take place about the same peripheral distances by forced motion. An especially simple design is achieved when instead of separate drives for the shafts of the gears meshing with the racks, intermediate gears which mesh directly with the gears in mesh with the racks are employed. It is recommended that gears and racks on each side and symmetrically arranged be provided so that edging of the frames in their guides is avoided.

On the other hand it is also possible to hold the two groups of frames movable in each case by longitudinal spindles which have sections equipped with thread coordinated to the adjustment ranges of the frame. When using such longitudinal spindles, these are supported to advantage in such a manner that they are secured against axial shifting and thus can determine the longitudinal shifting of the frames in an unambiguous way. It is advantageous to connect the middle frame firmly to the machine bed so as to prevent shifting. Guidance of the longitudinal spindles and/or attaching a power drive is done through a middle stationarily held frame. It has been found advantageous, when using several longitudinal spindles, to interconnect these by drives and to make them adjustable as a unit and, preferably, power driven.

Furthermore, it has been found recommendable to connect the threaded pieces embracing the longitudinal spindles with the frames in a detachable manner. This can be done in such a way that they mesh with the frames in a form-locking manner, preferably by lugs assigned to them.

It has been recognized as essential to design the formlocking connection between the frames as well as between the frames and the machine bed in a detachable manner. Here, profiled rails reaching behind lugs of the con nected frames, transmitting the forces and kept detachable, have proved valuable. In order to render the forcelocked connection simpler, it has proved to be useful to effect the guiding of the frames by special means during the shifting. Thus, for example, in each case two threaded spindles attaching at a distance from each other can be provided which in a form-locked manner effect identical shift stretches for both sides of the frames. On the other hand, the guiding, especially of the frames designed in a manner to be movable on the machine bed, can be effected by springs arranged in the middle region of the frames engaging in grooves.

In detail the characteristics of the invention are explained in the following, based on the description of a practical example in connection with drawings describ-- ing the latter, wherein FIGURE 1 is a schematic elevational view of a roller leveling machine incorporating threaded spindles coordinated in each case to the two groups of frames;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along lines A-B of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a schematic view, partly in section, of a. second embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view, enlarged, of one of the leveling roller shafts of an upper frame of FIGURE 3'.

In FIGURES l and 2 a machine bed is depicted on which, secured by profiled ledges 2 against lifting off, frames 3 are held in such a manner that they can be shifted relative to the ledges 2. The frames 3 include builtin pieces 4 which can be adjusted vertically and in which the shafts 5 of the lower leveling rollers 6 are supported.

There are frames 8 set on supporting areas 7 of the frame 3, bridging the space between the frames in the manner of a bridge which includes shafts 9 for the upper leveling rollers 10. Connected with frames 8 are drives 11 which connect drive motors 12 coordinated to the frames with the shafts 9. Guidance in a direction parallel to the path of travel of the rolling section as well as transmission of working forces between the frames 3 and 8 is effected by a ledge 14 provided in a fixed manner in the frames 3 projecting over the supporting area 13 of the frame 8, as well as by profiled bars 15 to 17 connected in a detachable manner to the frames and embracing protruding ledges of them. By this construction it is achieved that the vertical forces acting upon the leveling rollers 6 and 10, respectively, while leveling, are not transferred to a special supporting frame, but that transfer is achieved essentially from frame to frame via their form-closing connections 13 to 17. The machine bed 1 serves essentially for supporting the Weights of the frame and, beyond that, has to carry only negligibly small differential forces of individual leveling forces against the sum of the leveling forces with which the known outer machine frames are loaded. Therefore, there is no need to employ a closed-frame construction and the lateral forces acting upon the machine bed are much smaller than those to which the crossbeams of the usual closed frame are exposed. Thus, not only the side housings are omitted as well as the upper crossbeam of the usual closed frame, but the machine bed itself can be constructed considerably lighter than the hitherto usual lower crossbeam which makes considerably lesser demands of the foundation as well as of its connection to the foundation than the usual roller leveling machines.

To relieve the profiled ledges from taking forces acting perpendicular to the machine bed 1, guide grooves 18 and 19 are provided in the machine bed 1 as well as in the frames 3 connected by a key 20.

Lengthwise adjustment of the lower frames 3 is performed by a longitudinal spindle 21. The longitudinal spindle 21 is supported in the frame 22 secured against axial shifting at 23 and an adjusting motor 24 connected to this frame can drive the longitudinal spindle 21 via a worm gear drive for shifting the frames. The longitudinal spindle 21 supported in frame 22 shows in each case thread sections 25 and 26, respectively, for the other frames which are embraced by threaded pieces 27 and 28, respectively. The threaded pieces are easily detachably connected to the frames in a form-closed manner by bolts reaching through drilled holes of the frames. their length as well as their pitch is selected according to the desired shifting of the frames coordinated with them. In the practical example the longitudinal spindle 21 is dimensioned in such a way that in each case distances equal among themselves of the leveling rollers are attained. A 10 mm. per thread pitch has been chosen for the threaded portion 25 and the coordinated threaded piece 27. The same applies to the second of the frames adjoining the frame 22 connected to the machine bed 1 and thus not being in a position to be shifted. To keep the same distances in each case the outer of the lower frames 3, shown in FIGURE 1, must be operated with twice the stroke. The threaded piece 28 as well as the section 26 of the longitudinal spindle 21, therefore have a pitch of 20 mm. per thread and, in order to secure an equal adjustment range, the section 26 is also constructed with twice the length of the section 25. By choosing the pitches accordingly upon request different conditions of advancement can be attained, e.g., the pitch of the sections can increase more than proportionally from the inside to the outside if the outer rollers are to be driven with a correspondingly greater distance. If, in doing this, threaded sections lying outside are to be chosen longer than the division of the frames when engaged, the threaded sections can be distributed alternately onto several spindles.

Simultaneously, with the longitudinal shift of the lower frames, that of the upper ones are also affected. Here, since there is no special guiding ledge provided corresponding to key 20 and the profiled bars 14 to 17 are to be relieved of guiding tasks, two longitudinal spindles 29 and 30 are provided which, by an even advancement, avoid with security any edging of the frames 8 when shifted longitudinally. Here too, as shown in FIGURE 1, the longitudinal spindles 29 and 30, respectively, show threaded sections 31 to 34 of different length and different pitch. The threaded sections 32 and 33 designed as relatively short and with half the effective length of the sections 25 are equipped with a pitch of 5 mm. per thread, While the threaded sections 31 and 34 lying further outside have three times the length and a pitch of 15 mm. per thread. The threaded portions 35 and 36 can be connected with the frames 8 or with profiled rails connected with them, e.g., 16 or 17, by bolting. In the practical example they take the form of cylindrical lugs 37 which reach into corresponding holes of the frames in a form-closed manner. In their middle section the longitudinal spindles 29 and 30 are supported in the frame 22 connected solidly with machine bed 1 and are connected to the positioning motor 24 via a drive unit; the motor drives also the longitudinal spindle 21 so that a common adjustment of the distances of all the leveling roller shafts is made possible.

In the form illustrated only the lower leveling roller shafts 5 are constructed with vertical adjustment. The built-in pieces 4 of these leveling roller shafts are in each instance supported by an adjusting device 38, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, which is connected by longitudinal keys 39 with the frame of the frame 3 for transmitting the forces acting upon it. Reactions on the machine bed are eliminated safely in this manner. By means of the motor 40 with a gear drive the adjusting shaft 41 is driven which by means of worms 42 meshes with solidly supported worm gears 43, which, in turn, lift a threaded piston 44 when rotated whose shank end engages in a hollowed-out part of the frame 4,

A further practical example of the invention is shown in a partly sectioned view in FIGURE 3 while a leveling roller shaft thereof is shown enlarged in FIGURE 4 t0- gether with the adjoining parts. In FIGURE 3 a machine bed 47 is shown in section on which, held in a formclosed manner movable lengthwise by guiding devices, not shown, lower frames 50 are arranged to support builtin pieces 48, which are vertically adjustable and include leveling roller shafts 49. The adjustment of the individual leveling shaft distance or the individual distances of the leveling roller shafts is performed by power means in the form of a motor 51 which is able to drive the longitudinal spindle 54 via a drive 52 and a coupling brake device 53. In the practical example the longitudinal spindle extends only below the two frames provided to the right of the central symmetry plane. A corresponding driving device arranged symmetrically, not shown in the drawing, is provided for the frames standing to the left of the symmetry plane. The frame 55, arranged in the middle, does not have to participate in shifting motions and, therefore, is constructed without a driving device and is clamped tight within its guide. The longitudinal spindle 54 includes two partial sections equipped with threads of different pitch S6 and 57. In order to effect for the outer force twice the shifting distance of the units standing further inside, the thread in the partial section 57 is designed with twice the pitch of that of the partial section 56. Threaded pieces 58 and 59 are connected as spindle nuts with the built-in pieces and mesh with the threads of the partial sections 56 and 57, respectively, of the longitudinal spindle 54 and effect corresponding shifting of the lower frames 50 when the longitudinal spindle is driven.

With reference to the longitudinal adjustment of the upper frame 65, the frames 50 carry a foot ledge 63 in sliding guides 60, 61, shown in FIGURE 4, and secured against lifting off by ledges 62 which are protruding of the upper frames 65 showing the upper leveling roller shafts 64. Connected with the sliding guides of the lower frames 50 are racks 66 and 67 which gears 69 and '70 mesh supported in the fork ends 68 of the upper frame 65. As FIGURE 3 shows, the gears 69 and 70 are connected in such a way by another pair of gears provided as intermediate gears 79 and 72 that the gears 69 and 70 can perform only rotations by forced motion which are in the opposite sense and are equal in their amount. Thus, however, the following effect results: If the lower frames 50 are shifted by driving the longitudinal spindle 54, the common displacement for the two lower frames bridged by the upper frame 65 acts upon the upper frame by carrying it along. The difference in the displacement effected by the uneven pitch of the thread of the partial sections 56 and 57 of the longitudinal spindle 54, in each instance, exercises a moment on the gears 69 and 70. When the frames are moved outward, the gear 70 is driven clockwise while the gear 69 experiences driving moments in the opposite sense. In the two gears thus the tendency exists to revolve on the racks 66 and 67, respectively, with the distance between the bridged lower frames increasing in the direction toward the central plane between these frames. The force connection between the gears 69 and 70 effected by means of the gears 71 and 72 entails that this rolling-off action can take place only by partial amounts equal in each instance. Thus, however, it is forcibly achieved that, independent of the individual position of the lower frames, the upper frame 65 bridging them positions itself symmetrically to the lower ones and their central plane runs between the lower frame at equal distances, respectively. Thus, however, the adjustment of the leveling roller divisions, i.e., the distances of the leveling roller shafts can be effected exclusively on the lower frames by means of one or several longitudinal spindles extending below them. The upper frames participate in each adjustment in the displacement of the lower frames loaded by them proportionally and always hold them above the middle of the bridged frames.

In the practical example of FIGURE 3 the connection between the gears 69 and 70 has been effected by intermediate gears; therefore, equal rotational speeds are effected forcibly, even with unequal size of the gears 69 and 70. If appropriately large gears are permitted, the intermediate gears can be renounced. Otherwise, it is possible to insert additional pairs of gears. The connection of the gears provided on both sides is also possible by traversing shafts. In this case, the connection can be effected via the shafts and can be represented by spur gears when an intermediate drive reversing the sense of rotation is applied by chains or even via suitable bevel gears and a longitudinal shaft. Herein, it is also possible to equip the gears with a different circumference 69 and 70 or to use a ratio differing from 1:1. In this case the upper frame does not stay above the center of the two lower ones, but the distances stay in relation to the chosen ratio or change, respectively.

It has been found advantageous to design the sliding guides carrying the frames in such a manner that after setting the desired distances, the positive holding frame can take place in order to save the drive units from impact loadings. In such a case the racks can be exchanged also against chains which may or may not be placed under tension, or the racks 66 and 67 and the gears 69 and 70 can be replaced by gears revolving on rails. Beyond that, it has proved to be advantageous to assign braking units to the gears 69 and 70 which, after the adjustment has been made, permit blocking the gears. In addition, or as an alternative, the drive itself can be blocked by a braking device 53.

The described roller leveling machine can be built in practice with any desired length and with any number of rollers. The individual last leveling rollers are also fully adjustable and, therefore, can be utilized for the leveling process with full effect. Feed and run-off rollers which normally are only partly usable are omitted. Blocks 45 of FIGURE 1 attached to the outer frames are equipped only with rollers 46 running vertically which effect a lateral guidance of the material to be leveled. In the case of the practical example, according to FIGURES 3 and 4, a feeding device is created which is relatively simply built and can be serviced in a simple manner and which has to act only on the lower frames and in which the upper frames automatically assume the desired intermediate positions. In a similar manner sheet leveling machines can also be built in which the leveling shafts supported on both sides in the frames are equipped with leveling rolls provided between the bearings. The leveling machine, according to the present invention, proves to be low-costing not only because of the closed sequence of forces within the frames and the omission of the closed frame, but the use of the same frames simplifies also stocking of spare parts and permits removal and replacement of a frame. Thus, further advantages accrue both in the fabrication, as the parts can be produced in sets, and in assembling. The machine becomes shorter and lower than similar ones having a closed frame in the usual manner and, therefore, is also less pretentious than correspondingly known machines.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle and operation of my invention and have illustrated and described what I consider to represent the best embodiment thereof. However, I desire to have it understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. In a leveling machine comprising:

abase member,

a first group of distinct frames carried by said base member, said first frames each including means rotatably supporting a shaft,

a first group of leveling rollers carried by said shafts engaged with a first side of the material to be leveled,

the first frames each including a platform located at w the side of said first frames opposite said base member,

a second group of distinct frames carried by said platforms of said first group of frames in a manner that each of the frames of the second group straddle two of the first frames,

said second frames each including means rotatably supporting a shaft,

a second group of leveling rollers carried by said shafts of said second frames and arranged in a staggered relationship with the first group of leveling rollers and engageable with a second side of the material to be leveled,

said base member supporting the first group of frames constructed to carry only the weight of the two groups of frames and their associated parts, and

means interconnecting said first and second group of frames constructed in a manner that the working forces developed during leveling are self-contained within said frames and wherein said frames are caused to assume a unitary construction.

2. In a leveling machine according to claim 1, wherein said interconnecting means comprises at least two sets of rails, one set being arranged to connect the first group of frames to the base member and the other set being arranged to connect the first group of frames to said second group of frames.

3. In a leveling machine according to claim 1, wherein said interconnecting means and said groups of frames are connected by tongue and groove means, whereby one of the groups of frames is movable relative to the other in a longitudinal direction.

4. In a leveling machine according to claim 1, wherein one of the frames of said first group of frames constitutes an interior frame, means for stationarily mounting said interior frame to said base member and wherein said other frames of said first group are slidably mounted relative to said base member.

5. In a leveling machine according to claim 3, wherein said machine includes power means mounted in said first frames and which includes a spindle member engageable with the shaft of at least one of said first rollers for moving said first roller in a vertical direction relative to said rollers of said second frames.

6. In a leveling machine according to claim 1, wherein the frames of one group are connected together by a rotatable spindle, said spindle having threaded portions received in nuts carried by said one group of frames and wherein the pitches of said threaded portion differ in a manner that the outer frames of said one group are displaced a further distance on rotation of said spindles so as to maintain a predetermined space relationship between the respective frames of the one group.

7. In a leveling machine according to claim 6, wherein the frames of the other group are interconnected by a rotatable spindle,

said spindle having threaded portions received in nuts carried by said frames of the other group, and wherein the pitches of the threaded portions of each spindle are the same, and

means connected to both spindles for rotating the spindles of the first and second groups of frames.-

8. In a leveling machine according to claim 1 including a gear rack associated with one of said groups of frames, a set of gears associated with the other group of frames, said gears being arranged to engage the racks of the other groups of frames so that one gear of said set engages a different frame of said other group and means for displacing one of said groups of frames longitudinally, the construction being such that the meshing relationship established between said gear racks and set of gears assures a predetermined longitudinal movement between said two groups of frames.

9. In a leveling machine according to claim 8, wherein said set of gears is interconnected by a pair of intermediate gears and wherein the gears of the set are of the same diameter, said intermediate gears being arranged so as not to mesh with said rack and releasable braking means associated with said frames to hold them against longitudinal movement.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,003,575 9/1911 Abramsen 72-164 1,414,371 5/1922 Nilson 72l 64 1,959,492 5/1934 -Moses 72-165 2,720,242 10/ 1 955 Siegerist 72164 3,273,369 9/1966 Modder 72l64 MILTON S. MEHR, Primary Examiner 

